Volvo India now to provide six months of paid maternity leave

Six months of paid leave will now be provided for women going on maternity leave, an increase from the previous policy of 12 weeks with an additional four weeks in case of maternity-related complications.Brinda Sarkar | ET Bureau | August 04, 2016, 18:18 IST

Volvo India now to provide six months of paid maternity leaveBENGALURU: In a move aimed at enabling the ease of working for women employees, automobile company Volvo India has enhanced its maternity leave policy.

Six months of paid leave will now be provided for women going on maternity leave, an increase from the previous policy of 12 weeks with an additional four weeks in case of maternity-related complications. Going forward, an additional four weeks will continue to be provided for those facing complications.

This means that a woman employee can take up to 180 days of paid maternity leave, without having to avail earned earned leave or request for sanction and approval of leave without pay.

The new policy has been made applicable to all women employees currently on or about to go on maternity leave.

“We want to be considered as an employer that strongly promotes gender diversity at the workplace, and take pride in the fact that we would be the first automobile company in India to launch this benefit,” RaviKumar Solomon, vice president of HR, Volvo Group India, told ET.

The company also has an employee assistance programme in place which includes counselling for expecting and new mothers. Flexible working options like work from home and flexible working hours - depending on the respective work / business environment the employee is working for - are also provided.

Volvo is exploring various other options to attract women candidates to its existing workforce and retaining existing women colleagues, said Solomon.

“All businesses of the Volvo Group in India have targets set to increase the gender diversity apart from the other aspects of diversity, as we believe that diversity and inclusion is a key enabler to achieving our business success,” Solomon said.